Reviews

The Rebel Nun by Marj Charlier

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lucyselim's review against another edition

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adventurous informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

jaci666's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kat__z8's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It earned the 2.75 stars solely for having a premise that has never been done before. But this book just didn't deliver. The writing is decent, but the characters act and and talk weirdly (and not because they're nuns). The whole book is slow, and the promise for the rebellion dragged on for so long and once they started the "real" rebellion, it barely lasted for more than a few chapters. The ending was unsatisfactory as well.

taylorthiel's review

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5.0

This one stayed on my TBR shelf for a while. I was hesitant because I don’t normally like historical fiction and I was worried this would be an obnoxious retelling. However I found it to be beautifully nuanced and entertaining the whole way through. Each female character was different and interesting. The authors note at the end detailing what was recorded fact and what was fiction was also helpful and insightful.

What was lacking?: my only complaint is that the main character was kept from much of the harm that befell the other female nuns (up until the end where she had one moment of *potential* harm that happened to her). It felt a little like she was protected by the author while the other nuns were pawns to show the horror of what occurred.

Other than that, a beautiful read. I’m always a succor for great feminist stories and this is definitely that. It was feminist in a way that felt both realistic to the time period, but also distinctly modern. Women were allowed to want to be warriors and to want to be mothers and wives. Very well written.